A retired RAF pilot believes he has created Europe's fastest biplane after strapping two JET ENGINES to the DIY aircraft - in his garden shed. <br /><br />Wacky Rich Goodwin, 60, spent four years and thousands of pounds building himself the Pitts Special muscle biplane at his home near Malvern, Worcs.<br /><br />He can often be seen taking to the skies and wowing the crowds by doing loop-the-loops and barrel rolls at aerobatic displays across the country.<br /><br />But now the former Tornado pilot has gone one step further to create Britain’s first homemade jet-powered plane, which can hit speeds of 220mph. <br /><br />Having previously needing to remortgage his house to fund the original aircraft, he has now forked out £100,000 on two jet engines with 850lbs of thrust apiece.<br /><br />The married dad-of-five began working to install the engines back in 2021 and was able to test out his new creation in January following almost two years of labour. <br /><br />Thrilling Top Gun-style GoPro footage shows Rich putting the aircraft through its paces by pulling numerous dare-devil stunts. <br /><br />Rich now reckons he can boast being the owner of Europe’s fastest biplane - which weighs 1,500lbs (630kg) and has a 650bhp engine.<br /><br />He said: “It is very unique, many people can't believe the authorities allow me to fly it as it's a bit off the wall. <br /><br />“The plane has more thrust than before, it has excess thrust. If you look at the Harrier and the F35 which hover, they all have excess thrust. <br /><br />“It's not going to be going any faster than 220mph. But what can you do with this plane, we'll be able to get an altitude record for a biplane. <br /><br />“It's certainly the most powerful. It's the fastest biplane in the country, theoretically, but you'd have to break all the rules. It most likely is in Europe, too.<br /><br />“It's a plug-and-play situation with these engines. They just slot in on the frame. <br /><br />"Having flown it nine times now with the new engines, I'm confident that's it going to be a pretty good aeroplane. <br /><br />“Its taken a couple of years in extra building for the structure of the jet engine and the paperwork."<br /><br />Rich began building his labour of love six years ago after spending £135,000 and finally completed his initial project in 2020. <br /><br />Before then his only experience of building aircraft was putting together model planes. <br /><br />Rich, who served in the RAF between 1984-1993 and flew in the Gulf War, added: “It took four years to build the biplane, it was built in my garden shed<br /><br />"The top wing is 20ft long and it only fits in the shed diagonally, <br /><br />“Then it’s hard to transport it to the airfield as you can't fly it out of the garden. <br /><br />“During the modification process I needed to build a new set of wings and I thought I’d build a new biplane with all the modifications added on. <br /><br />“The only experience building I've had before was putting together a model airplane but sometimes in life you’ve just got to get on with it."
